Today, December 25, is a big day for gift giving. But have you considered giving yourself a gift?
Today, we visit Adrian of Toronto in his second home, Ajijic, Mexico. My wife and I have booked his Airbnb place for a few days. The year is 2020, weeks before you-know-what happened. I’m here because I’m on vacation and because I’m curious about what it looks like to live the ex-patriot life in Mexico.
Yup. It’s taken me nearly 4 years to edit this piece and get it out to the world. Learning: Even simply considering “The Ex-Pat Life” can be time consuming. But, yes, I finally got around to it. I’ve actually produced a handful of other Mexico/Ex-Pat themed videos also from this trip in 2020, but I think there was something about this one that held particular promise — and I didn’t want to rush into it. Funny how that seems to be the theme of the video at its core. Slowing down. Taking your time. Allowing yourself to experience whatever it is that Nature and Life are offering, without drowning them out in distractions, entertainments, activity.
And aren’t those precious gifts I can give to me, slowing down, taking my time? Yes. So I’m going to slow down. I want to savor this piece. I hadn’t claimed “retirement” for myself in 2020 when I shot this piece. Today, I have. And I truly believe that this visit to Ajijic influenced me to do so.
I love opening the video on the shot of me laying back on the veranda of our casita, eyes closed, breathing. There was something about being in that reality, even if it was on-camera, you know, set up, semi-artificial and all. I could still sink into the quiet, the repose. It felt so right to me.
This has been a dilemma much of my adult life, neatly distilled over decades into this potent question: Is is O.K. to just relax, to take it easy? In our culture of super achievement, is it permissible to live simpler, doing “less,” at the risk of being called lazy?
Adrian told me he’d been in a high stress job in Canada. Tons of travel. Tons of pressure. I feel so happy hearing him say, “Why would you want to be any place else?” Aha! Could it be that The Universe brought us together? Jeez, I oughta look him up and talk to him today. Now that would be a gift! I’ll keep you posted.
I’d love to hear how this post strikes you. I’m gradually settling into taking “yes” for an answer to my big question. (“Is is O.K. to relax, to do less?”) Of course it’s O.K. Those sleeping pooches don’t seem to be tormented by their decision to kick back.
To Run an Airbnb... or...Sleeping-Dog Envy